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Topic Review (Newest First)

07-20-2013 11:34 PM

shiloh

Picked up some Congo Tetras! I'd like to add a few more eventually and also get a school of something else colorful, maybe Cherry Barbs.

07-14-2013 09:34 PM

shiloh

So I've moved some stuff around, but it's more or less the same. I've been too busy to get this thing fully stocked; the only fish are a small group of green & gold cories, who are flourishing.

05-01-2013 12:53 PM

shiloh

So I planted some microsword mats in the foreground and I started getting some very tall, grassy stems growing out of them. Any ideas what these could be?

03-22-2013 06:41 AM

JEden8

What type of plants are you looking for?

03-21-2013 12:54 PM

shiloh

That's where I already shop, so good news on that front. I don't really know what I'm looking for, but nothing really caught my eye. It seemed to be mostly generic-looking stems, but definitely a large selection.

03-21-2013 04:39 AM

JEden8

Quote:

Originally Posted by shiloh

Town 'n country. How about you? Is there a good local store for plants?

I live in South Tampa by MacDill AFB. The place that has the best selection for plants that I've found is Marine Warehouse on Hillsborough. They have the biggest/best selection by far from all the stores I've been to. Prices are ok and sometimes on the high side. I'm in there a couple times a week bringing them stuff haha. Steve is the guy in charge of ordering all of the plants and is a good knowledgable guy. What kind of plants are you looking for?

03-20-2013 01:47 PM

shiloh

Quote:

Originally Posted by JEden8

Nice setup! What part of Tampa are you in?

Town 'n country. How about you? Is there a good local store for plants?

03-20-2013 05:11 AM

JEden8

Nice setup! What part of Tampa are you in?

03-20-2013 02:22 AM

shiloh

Alright, so here's my modest beginning. LFS plant selection left a lot to be desired, so looks like I'll be turning to the web. Just threw like $2 worth of minnows in there to cycle. The sump runs great but it's just not possible to get rid of 100% of the noise. I might just end up going with a nice canister once I get my tax refund.

02-28-2013 12:12 PM

shiloh

So, the tops of the wood pieces stick up above the waterline a little bit, even after being buried. I'm still undecided about whether I want to bother changing this or not. I'm leaning towards not because it is a messy process that kicks up a ton of organic debris. My once pristine cap is now covered with detritus from the miracle gro.

02-25-2013 01:26 PM

shiloh

Sorry, it's been a while without updates, mostly because not much has gotten done. I finally put the wood in the tank this weekend and got it sinking. I still have to bury it in the soil without kicking up too much Miracle Gro.

The morning after adding the wood I was greeted by lots and lots of nematodes. Is this something I should be worried about? I haven't changed the water at all since adding it and I'm sure a lot of organics have made their way to the water column from the substrate, so I suspect this is the culprit.

02-03-2013 12:57 AM

shiloh

So I finally got the plumbing and everything to the point where I feel comfortable leaving the house or going to sleep without worrying about everything flooding. New pump works great and is much quieter than the old one. I even had to turn the flow down a little bit so that my standpipe will still work properly.

In other news, I think I finally found the wood I'm going to use! It's a pair of cypress knees that I found on a hike today. They are pretty good sized but looking at my tank now, they might need adjustment to fit height-wise. They are relatively slender so I still might use a piece of the wood I collected earlier to fill things out.

It's coming together!

01-26-2013 09:21 PM

shiloh

More good news/bad news unfortunately. I cut the pump out and added an un-welded pvc coupler so it'll be much easier to get at the pump in the future. I also built and added a standpipe to the overflow box, which works like a dream. The drain is completely silent now.

Bad news is that the pump, which wasn't all that quiet to begin with, is now super noisy, even after cleaning it out. It also doesn't start up immediately when I plug it in, you kind of have to knock it against the side to get it going. Sooooo... looks like I'm getting a new pump. I'll probably still come out ahead dollar-wise compared to buying a canister, but this is a pain in the butt.

01-25-2013 12:13 PM

shiloh

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoxxerBoyDrew

Glad to see ya got water in the 40B!

Don't worry about the mistakes! Everyone makes them, but be glad you were there to keep the flooding to a minimum!!! A little water will flood a LONG WAY!!!! Don't Ask!!! Really clean out the pump!!! Sand or small rock in the impeller chamber can cut into the plastic and cause serious problems!!! Also I usually get some sponge, filter floss, or something soft to put under the main pump to keep the vibration noise from transferring to the cabinet! This will quiet things down allot!

Also the sumps I used to run had a hole drilled pretty close to the bottom of the stack of Bio-Balls on the "pump side" of sump. Then a piece of rigid air tubing was stuck into the bio-ball chamber as close as ya can to the middle of the balls. Then hook up a air pump, it doesn't have to be a big one, to the rigid airline! That's it! It made a very noticeable difference in the speed the bacteria grew to cycle the tank vs. without the extra air!

Anyhoo looking forward to seeing it progress!!!
Drew

Thanks Drew, those are some great tips!
The one thing I'm really kicking myself over is the hard plumbing for the return. It makes getting the pump out of there a huge PITA.

01-25-2013 05:21 AM

BoxxerBoyDrew

Glad to see ya got water in the 40B!

Don't worry about the mistakes! Everyone makes them, but be glad you were there to keep the flooding to a minimum!!! A little water will flood a LONG WAY!!!! Don't Ask!!! Really clean out the pump!!! Sand or small rock in the impeller chamber can cut into the plastic and cause serious problems!!! Also I usually get some sponge, filter floss, or something soft to put under the main pump to keep the vibration noise from transferring to the cabinet! This will quiet things down allot!

Also the sumps I used to run had a hole drilled pretty close to the bottom of the stack of Bio-Balls on the "pump side" of sump. Then a piece of rigid air tubing was stuck into the bio-ball chamber as close as ya can to the middle of the balls. Then hook up a air pump, it doesn't have to be a big one, to the rigid airline! That's it! It made a very noticeable difference in the speed the bacteria grew to cycle the tank vs. without the extra air!

Anyhoo looking forward to seeing it progress!!!
Drew

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